Brazil joins the Opec+Group of the largest oil exporters

Brazil joins the Opec+Group of the largest oil exporters

On Tuesday, the Brazilian government decided to join the Opec+, a group of important oil -producing nations. This signals Brazil's change into an important oil producer just nine months before the annual UN climate summit. The approval of the National Council for Energy Policy accepted an official invitation in 2023.

Opec+ and Brazil's role

The Opec+ comprises the 12 members of the Opec, which has long been founded to coordinate oil production and stabilize the markets, as well as 10 other important oil -producing countries, with Russia being the largest producer. Although the non-OPEC members agree to cooperation with the Opec countries, the Minister for Mining and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, said that Brazil would not go into binding obligations such as production cuts.

Minister Silveira via the Opec+

Silveira only referred to the Opec+ as a "forum for the discussion of strategies among oil -producing countries". He emphasized: "We shouldn't be ashamed to be oil producers. Brazil has to grow, develop and create income and work."

environment and renewable energies

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2023 started his third term and positioned himself as an environmentalist. It campaigned for reducing the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, he argued that the income from the oil business could finance the transition to renewable energies. In the past few weeks he has been urging the country's environmental authority to approved exploration drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River - one of the biodive regions of the world.

Brazil as an important oil producer

Brazil is the world's seventh oil producer with a daily production of around 4.3 million barrels, which is 4% of global oil production, according to the US energy information management. In 2024, crude oil became the most important export product of the country, which is 13.3% of Brazilian exports and thus overtaken the soy.

global oil production in comparison

The United States is the largest producer with almost 22 million barrels per day, followed by Saudi Arabia, the largest Opec producer with around 11 million barrels every day.

criticism of Lula's oil policy

Lula's efforts to increase oil production encounter criticism, especially with regard to the upcoming orientation of the UN climate summit Cop30 in November. A central concern of the annual climate negotiations is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, since their combustion releases greenhouse gases that heat the planet.

public reactions

"Brazil's joining an Opec instance is another sign of the regression's step backwards," says Suely Araújo, a spokeswoman for the climate observatory, a network of 133 environmental, civil society and academic groups. The development of new areas for fossil energy research "shows that we choose solutions from the past while we are faced with a huge challenge for the present and future," added Araújo.